Challenges faced by frontline nurses caring for Covid-19 patients at the GA East Hospital

Abstract

: Nurses experience varied forms of work-related stress with Covid 19 being one of the major causes of stress among frontline nurses. This study aims to explore the challenges faced by frontline nurses when caring for covid-19 patients at the Ga East Hospital which is one of the main Covid referral centers in the country. A qualitative exploratory research design was employed to explore the lived experiences of nurses at the frontline using a semi-structured interview guide with probes to conduct in-depth face-face interviews. Data was tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim and analyzed using content analysis. The sample size was 38. Two (2) themes and nine (9) sub-themes were generated from the analysis of this study. Participants in this study brought to bear their responsibilities as frontline nurses and the difficulties faced whilst discharging their duties. It is also interesting to know that the frontline nurses did not experience any shortage of logistics however, some challenges identified included Difficulty using personal protective clothing, fear of getting infected, and challenges with transportation Frontline nurses had varied roles when caring for Covid 19 patients, however, several challenges are experienced whilst ensuring this, hence measures should be put in place to overcome these challenges to facilitate the smooth discharging of duties as frontline nurses.

Keywords:

• Challenges
• Covid-19
• frontline nurses
• patients

Authors contribution

A.P.N: Conception of the idea, Data collection, and analysis, drafting of the manuscript and final approval of the version to be submitted.

EOA: Conception of the idea, Data collection, drafting of the manuscript and final approval of the version to be submitted, corresponding author

E.E.K Conception of the idea, Data collection, drafting of the manuscript and final approval of the version to be submitted.

E.O.B: Conception of the idea, Data collection, drafting of the manuscript and final approval of the version to be submitted

J.A: Data collection, drafting of the manuscript and final approval of the version to be submitted.

Z.A: Data collection, drafting of the manuscript and final approval of the version to be submitted

J.K: Revision of the manuscript for publication, data analysis, editing, and literature review

Abbreviations

Deputy Director of Nursing Services-DDNS, Dodowa Health Center Institutional Review Board- DHRCIRB, Intensive Care Unit- ICU, Personal Protective Equipment- PPEs, World Health Organization- WHO.

Availability of data and materials

The study data and materials are available as an attachment file.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Dodowa Health Center Institutional Review Board granted an ethical clearance certificate for this study with protocol ID No. DHRCIRB/096/09/21. Participants were given a written consent form to sign before the interview guide was administered. Their verbal consent was also sought individually before engaging them in the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research